MPI makes young man pay for honesty

KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image

Hard-working Sebastian Ibarra, $18,000 in debt for his U of M education, doesn’t know how he can pay MPI’s $1,800 bill.

Sebastian Ibarra has learned that honesty doesn't always pay.

The 24-year-old, a recent graduate from the University of Manitoba, was riding his bicycle down Corydon this spring. There was a branch in the road. He swerved to miss it. In that split second he had to choose between falling into traffic or toppling over a parked car.

He picked the parked car.

After bystanders made sure he wasn't badly hurt (he wasn't, but his bike needed repairs), Ibarra checked the damage. He'd broken the tail light on a Lexus. Some people would have chosen to either ride off or pretend to write their details.

Ibarra, a foreign student from Mexico, did the right thing. He gave the absent car owner all his information, including his email address, home address and an explanation of why he doesn't have a valid licence.

Here's what he wrote in the note he left on the windshield:

"I do not have a Canadian driver's licence, however, the Manitoba government gave me a driver's exemption letter. I will scan it today and send you a PDF of this letter. The driver's licence (number) under which this permit was issued is (his licence number). The accident happened just across (from) the Red Cactus bar. I was biking through Corydon, then I tried to avoid a branch in the pavement and lost control of my bike. To avoid the traffic to my left, I balanced all my weight to the right, just where your car was."

He does have a Mexican driver's licence, a moot point, as he doesn't have a car here.

Here's what the Lexus owner emailed back:

"Thanks for being so honest! It is because of people like you who make our city great. I hope you are at least OK."

And that was it until two weeks ago when Ibarra got a letter from Manitoba Public Insurance telling him the damage to the Lexus came to $1,800. He'd have to pay the price.

Here's context on Ibarra. He supported himself throughout his university years. His parents didn't pay his tuition. He came to Winnipeg because he fell for a girl. When that ended, he stayed on. Ibarra's proud that he's graduating "only" $18,000 in debt. As an international student, he paid $15,000 a year in tuition.

The average student who attends university without parental help ends up owing $25,000.

Ibarra is now working two jobs, one as a server at a restaurant and another as a cook at a different restaurant. He says he has no idea how he can pay the MPI bill.

"As soon as I got the letter from MPI I called and asked them if there's anything they could do. They waited all this time and then they send me this bill. I thought maybe I'd have to pay the deductible, but this is crazy."

He contacted the Lexus owner again to see if he could intervene. The man was kind, but the situation is out of his hands.

MPI spokesman Brian Smiley told me this is standard operating procedure. While he couldn't discuss the specifics of Ibarra's case, he said it's not unusual to have months pass before the guilty party gets the dunning letter. First, the owner has to report the damage, then it's repaired and finally MPI tries to recover its money.

"It's irrelevant whether the person has a driver's licence or not," says Smiley. "The insurance company is trying to recover the monies from the person they believe is responsible."

In this case, they didn't have to look very hard. Ibarra left a note.

Lorraine Forbes, whose son is a friend of Ibarra's, says she's frustrated that a young man who did the right thing is ending up being financially battered.

"He's a fine person, he's an honours student," Forbes says. "He's the kind of upstanding student you want to see more of. I wish a fairy godmother could come down and help him."

Brian Smiley holds out a glimmer of hope. People in situations like Ibarra's can arrange to pay off their debts over the course of months or years.

I asked the honest cyclist if he regretted leaving his name and contact information.

"Of course not," he said. "That was the right thing to do."

lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 21, 2010 A6